BC Teachers’ Federation ‘hopeful’ about new NDP government

The BC Teachers’ Federation is looking forward to sitting down with new NDP Education Minister Rob Fleming, said president Glen Hansman.

At the top of the union’s list of priorities is ensuring that school districts have the funds they need to ensure smaller class sizes by September, in order to meet the requirements of a Supreme Court ruling.

“I’m hopeful that over the summer there could be a course correction. That school districts like Richmond that are potentially short hundreds of teaching positions, that it can be rectified,” Hansman said.

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The BCTF president is also looking to secure capital funding in the future and starting a new relationship with the government.

“We were seeing things collide, really tight, tight budgeting when it came to implementing the Supreme Court decisions, the BC Liberals wanting to do it on the cheap,” he said.

Hansman said many schools across the province need to be upgraded, and that schools need to be built in Surrey and Chilliwack.

He said he’s hoping for a productive relationship with the NDP, one he hopes will be different form the previous BC Liberals.